England Men's selection panel have announced a squad for the first two men's Ashes Tests. England are set to take on Australia in the much awaited five-match Test series beginning on June 16 with te first game to be played at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
The 16-member team will report to Birmingham on Monday, June 12. The team is due to practice from June 13, ahead of the thrilling contest.
The squad is unchanged from the Test series against Ireland. Josh Tongue, who made a brilliant Test debut against Ireland, retained his place in the team along with James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, who were dropped for the Lord's Test. England have a strong pace unit led by Anderson, who is expected to be fit before the first game. Long with them, Mark Wood, Matthew Potts and Chris Woakes are also the part of the squad.
Update on skipper Ben Stokes' fitness for bowling is still not clear. However, their head coach Brendon McCullum had earlier said Stokes was making good progress and could return to bowling during the summer. Bairstow, who returned to the playing 11 after nine months with the Ireland Test, will take the resposnisbity of wicket-keeper. Zak Crawley who made a bounce back with a half-century at Lord's, retained his place at the top of the order alongside Ben Duckett. Dan Lawrence also retained his place as the reserve batsman.
England men's Ashes Test squad -
Ben Stokes (capt), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Ashes Series Schedule -
- 1st Test: England vs Australia, 16-20 June, Edgbaston, Birmingham
- 2nd Test: England vs Australia, 28 June-2 July, Lord’s, London
- 3rd Test: England vs Australia, 6-10 July, Headingley, Leeds
- 4th Test: England vs Australia, 19-23 July, Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester
- 5th Test: England vs Australia, 27-31 Kia Oval, London
